Quotes from Chesterton

G.K. Chesterton (1874 - 1946) , an English born poet, essayist and novelist, is regarded as one of the greatest Christian minds of the modern era. His work is legendary, and has become a point of reference and inspiration for many Christian thinkers since.

Here are some of his gems:

“To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.”

“How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.”

“A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.”

“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”

“Do not free a camel of the burden of his hump; you may be freeing him from being a camel.”

“New roads; new ruts.”

Henry on Golgotha

Matthew 27:33&35
"And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull...they crucified Him..."

In commentary of this verse, Matthew Henry writes (and I love his concluding statement!):

They came to a place called Golgotha, near adjoining to Jerusalem, probably the common place of execution... Some think that it was called the place of a skull, because it was the common charnel-house, where the bones and skulls of dead men were laid together out of the way, lest people should touch them, and be defiled thereby.

Here lay the trophies of death’s victory over multitudes of the children of men; and when by dying Christ would destroy death, he added this circumstance of honour to his victory, that he triumphed over death upon his own dunghill.

Hefner and Affection

Hugh Hefner, founder of the Playboy empire, when asked about his upbringing:

"I was raised in a setting in which [sex] was for procreation only and the rest was sin...Our family was Prohibitionist, Puritan in a very real sense... Never hugged. Oh, no. There was absolutely no hugging or kissing in my family. There was a point in time when my mother, later in life, apologized to me for not being able to show affection. That was, of course, the way I'd been raised. I said to her, 'Mom, you couldn't have done it any better. And because of the things you weren't able to do, it set me on a course that changed my life and the world.' "

Jesus is my Friend

A Bridge in Ramadan

Muslim's across the world are currently observing the month of Ramadan.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and there are several reasons why the Islamic community consider it important. Muslim's believe that the Qur'an was revealed during this month, and that at this time the gates of Heaven are open and the gates of Hell closed.

A Christian church in the Indonesian city of Solo has recognised an opportunity to build a bridge to their community during Ramadan, by providing meals at sunset for fasting Muslim's.

Check out the BBC video report here

Preaching & Walking

I enjoyed this story, included in J. John's weekly e-news last Friday:

One day, St Francis of Assisi invited a young monk to join him on a trip to a local village to preach. The young novice, delighted to be singled out to be Francis’ companion, accepted with enthusiasm. They walked through the main streets, turned down many of the alleys, made their way into the suburbs and then returned to the monastery. As they returned, the young novice monk reminded Francis of the original intention: ‘You have forgotten, Father, that we went to the town to preach.’

‘My son,’ Francis replied, ‘we have preached. We were preaching while we were walking. We have been seen by so many, our behaviour has been closely watched; it was thus that we preached our morning sermon. It is of no use to walk anywhere to preach, unless we preach everywhere as we walk."

Great Quote

"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

Nathan Hale (1755-1776) - considered to be America's first spy; officer for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War against Britain.

The Worst Type of Luxury

I love this thought taken from Steve Penny's Leadership for Life lecture on Thursday night at Kings Training College.

"Successful leaders do not allow themselves the luxury of defeat."

Creatively Failing

Violence in the name of God

I am currently reading 'Can Man Live Without God' by Ravi Zacharias, and highly recommend it.

In chapter one Ravi addresses a common, yet ill-understood charge that many people lay upon Christianity: 'What about the thousands of people who have been killed in the name of religion?'

Before forcing the Christian to answer this emotion-charged question, the responsibility falls upon the atheist to explain all the killings that have taken place at the hands of those who have lived without God, for example Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini and Mao. Those who are quick to lay blame for violence at the door of the religious, very often are not so enthusiastic about distributing blame to the irreligious.

People who bring this attack to religion have failed to recognise that history's large-scale slaughters at the hands of antitheists were the logical outworking of their Godless philosophy. On the other hand, violent crimes committed in the name of Christ would never have been endorsed by the Christ of scriptures. Indeed it was the self-focused, power hungry politicizers of religion whom Jesus most opposed in His life and teaching.

In short, whenever violonece has spawned in the name of Christ, it has been in contradiction to the gospel. However when violence is spawned in the name of atheism, it is the logical outworking of a philosophy void of morals or any basis for human value.

The frightening outworking of a Godless philosphy hang upon a wall in the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz. These are the words of Hitler - his vision of a generation of youth devoid of conscience:

I freed Germany from the stupid and degrading fallicies of conscience and morality... We will train young people before whom the world will tremble. I want young people capable of violence - imperious, relelentless and cruel.

Ravi completes the chapter in summary of Hitler's Nazi Germany, their heinous crimes and their inextricable link with antitheism:

"That this was conceived and nurtured in the mind of the most educated nation at that time in history and brought forth on the soil that had also given brith to the Enlightenment almost denies belief. But it was atheism's legitimate offspring. Man was beginning to live without God."

The Weekend

Sarah and I spent the weekend with James & Sam Macpherson at Calvary Christian Church in Townsville.

Our time there coincided with their 'Body, Soul, Spirit' womens conference with Janine Kubala and Jo Geerling, which Sarah loved.

Janine preached a hot message on Sunday morning on the subject of extravagance, and I preached Sunday night from the thought 'Intended for Influence'.

During Calvary's Sunday night service they featured a segment called 'Jesus in Real Life', where they interview a member of their church as to how they bring Jesus into their workplace. Local Hot FM radio host Steve Lanzon was the guest, and I have not laughed so hard in a while!

Last week Steve also posted a video on YouTube entitled 'Leave Stephanie Rice Alone', inspired by the now famous 'Leave Britney Alone' video. James Macpherson has posted the video on his blog today; to view click here.

Activating Drive & Desire

I'm currently reading 'Developing the Leaders Around You' by John Maxwell.

Here's a great excerpt on activating the drive and desire in team members:

Great leaders know the desires of the people they lead. As much as potential leaders respect the knowledge and ability of their leaders, these are secondary matters to them. They don't care how much their leaders know until they how how much their leaders care...about their needs, their dreams, their desires.

Once a leader is genuinely interested in the well-being of those around him, the determination and drive of the people in that group are activated in a remarkable way. The starting point of all achievement is drive, determination, and desire.

Napoleon Bonaparte is known as one of history's greatest leaders. One of his leadership secrets was knowing the needs of his men. He first determined what his men wanted most. Then he did everything possible to help them get it. He knew this was a key to successful motivation. Most leaders do the opposite. They first decide what they want. Then they try to persuade others to want the same thing as much as they do.

People - the indispensible asset

"You can take my factories, burn up my buildings, but give me my people, and I'll bring my business right back again."

- Henry Ford

blogs everywhere!

Blogs are emerging everywhere from the amazing young people of KINGS.

Here are some of them - check them out.

Reuben Skewes
Francine Nicholls
Olivia Spies
Jazza Vock

I love young people who can put their faith into words, and love the raw edge to their posts.

Leaders & Teamwork

American college football coach Bear Bryant is legendary in his sport for his incredible winning record as a coach.

I like his view of leadership and teamwork:

'If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, then we did it. If anything goes real good, they did it.'

It's little wonder why he won people and games.

The Rich & the Rest

Today's Adelaide Advertiser ran an interesting article titled "How the Rich Differ from the Rest". The article outlined some great insights into the ethos and attitudes of the very wealthy.

Here's an excerpt:

Mr Grey said common characteristics of wealthy people included:

*Living well below their means all their lives.
*Allocating time, energy and money to increasing their wealth.
*Believing that financial independence was more important than displaying a high social status.
*Their parents did not provide financial handouts.

"They are extremely focused and passionate about their business or occupation and about earning strong income from that. They are also driven to live within their means, which enables them to invest on a regular basis,'' Mr Grey said.

To read the entire article click here

Private Values & Public Performance

Do private values affect the public performance of public figures?

This was the key question in a BBC World News debate featuring Mal Fletcher. The debate was inspired by the recent Max Mosley court case in London.

In the debate Mal makes some great points regarding the indispensability of trust and integrity in leadership.

To view the debate on YouTube click here

How we Learn

On Sunday afternoon I read a small book by Les Giblin, Skill with People.

In the introduction Giblin outlines three interesting human insights:
Insight #1 - How We Learn (and Buy)
83% through SIGHT
11% through HEARING
3.5% through SMELL
1.5% through TOUCH
1% through TASTE

Insight #2 - How We Retain Information
10% of what we READ
20% of what we HEAR
30% of what we SEE
50% of what we SEE & HEAR
70% of what we SAY AS WE TALK
90% of what we SAY AS WE DO A THING

Insight #3 - Methods of Instruction

Telling when Used Alone
70% recalled 3 hours later
10% recalled 3 days later

Showing When Used Alone
72% recalled 3 hours later
20% recalled 3 days later

Blend of Telling and Showing Used
85% recalled 3 hours later
65% recalled 3 days later

In terms of communication, the conclusion is that effective public speaking and preaching should be visually stimulating, including multi-media in such a way that it adds to, not detracts from from the message delivered.

Also, people need to in some way participate in the message via speech or action if they are to have a greater chance of retention. If there is no retention, both audience and orator have wasted their time.

"Pastor," said the worshipper, "what a wonderful sermon!" "That," replied the preacher, "remains to be seen."

National Child Protection Week?

The tiny hand of a fetus reaches out from a mother's womb to clasp a surgeon's healing finger. It shows a 21-week-old fetus in its mother's womb, about to undergo a spine operation designed to save it from serious brain damage.




Currently before the Victorian Parliament is new proposed abortion legislation. The Abortion Law Reform Bill 2008 will be debated in Parliament from 9 September which, ironically, is National Child Protection Week.

If this becomes law, there is no doubt that it will serve as a precedent for law reform in other Australia states. Not only will abortion be decriminalised up until 24 weeks of pregnancy, but second and third trimester abortions will be far more accessible.

At 21 weeks old, this baby could be legally aborted by the proposed legislation before the Victorian Parliament.

The Right to Life website reports:

'The Abortion Law Reform Bill 2008 is a radical attempt to legalise abortion in Victoria throughout the entire 9 months of pregnancy, without any real limitation. The Bill was introduced, ironically, by Minister for Early Childhood Development Maxine Morand MP.

Section 4 of the Bill mandates abortion on demand up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. We know that babies are now capable of being born alive at 22 weeks. This section therefore declares all abortions, for any reason, can be carried out on babies capable of being alive. No restrictions...'

For step by step instructions and ideas on how to write to your local politician regarding this proposal, visit www.makeastand.org.au

Genesis 25:23
And the Lord said to her [Rebekah]:
"Two nations are in your womb..."